The environment minister said Palmer arrived on a visitor's permit, not a hunting permit. Yet now he is saying Palmer's papers are in order. Was the minister initially in error? Did Palmer switch to a hunter's permit after arriving? Was there a cover-up by a corrupt government (Zimbabwe is high on
the world perceived corruption list)?
In Canada, you can not switch between the different types of Visa/permits while still in the country. You must return to your home country, and there may also be a required waiting period before re-applying for a different Visa. I suspect this is to prevent people from staying in the country indefinitely by Visa hopping. However, perhaps Zimbabwe is different.
It was previously reported the land owner was not assigned a quota/permit for Lion hunting. Hence the land owner has committed an offence by allowing the hunt. I read it was claimed the bait was for a leopard, but Cecil came along and the guide told Palmer to kill it (they neglected to mention Jericho who arrived at the bait an hour earlier, but appeared to be ignored). Palmer was said to be furious when he discovered the collar on Cecil. If this telling were true, then the land owner is innocent since he did not know they decided to kill a lion instead. However now the guide becomes guilty, since he should have known Lions were not authorized on that land. Certainly someone is guilty, unless the government now suddenly claims the land owner did have a Lion quota.
I suspect this story is total BS. We know from reported behaviour, Palmer wants to kill the biggest of every type of big game animal possible. We know from photos, he had
already killed a leopard. We know from Palmer's photo with Cecil, he was joyful and proud of what he had done despite the collar.
Certainly not furious.
In any case, we can conclude from Palmer's past bear hunting, and the guide being caught in the late night with Sables, these are not ethical hunters.
That is so sad. Glad they have arrested some of those responsible. Now they need to find a way to keep this stuff from happening, maybe die the animals' tusks pink or something similar.
I'm disgusted this was somehow found to be legal in Zimbabwe. They need to change their laws stat! However, I'm still holding out hope that U.S. federal prosecutors can find a statute under which the U.S. can prosecute him.
